JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In an emotional second of testimony on Monday, the daddy of Jacksonville rapper Hakeem Robinson, higher recognized by his stage identify “Ksoo,” recognized his son because the particular person captured in a video recording exhibiting the taking pictures demise of Charles “Lil Buck” McCormick Jr. in 2020.
Hakeem’s father, Abdul Robinson Sr., often known as “Blue,” took the stand Monday afternoon to testify in opposition to his 26-year-old son on behalf of the state.
Hakeem Robinson and co-defendant Leroy Whitaker, 24, his cousin, are standing trial for homicide and gun costs within the taking pictures demise of 23-year-old McCormick.
Testimony will resume on Tuesday. News4JAX will stream the trial reside. Press play on the prime of this text to look at, beginning at 9 a.m.
The case has drawn nationwide consideration — and stirred deep tensions within the metropolis’s rap and gang communities. In keeping with prosecutors, the motive for McCormick’s homicide concerned a “diss” monitor McCormick had created about Robinson Sr.’s stepson, Willie Addison, who was killed in a drive-by taking pictures in 2019.
Robinson Sr. testified on Monday that each of his sons had been members of the group ATK and had been enemies with a rival group, 6Block, of which McCormick was a member.
When the prosecutor requested Robinson Sr. who most needed to go after McCormick due to the track, the 54-year-old mentioned his sons, Hakeem Robinson and Abdul Robinson Jr.
“They didn’t prefer it,” he mentioned concerning the track.
Robinson Jr. can be charged with McCormick’s homicide and shall be tried individually.
In a dramatic second on the stand, Robinson Sr. was requested if he acknowledged the particular person captured in a video recording exhibiting the taking pictures of McCormick on Jan. 15, 2020. (Watch the video under)
Robinson Sr. took an extended pause, appeared to get emotional, and mentioned, “My son.”
“What’s your son’s identify?” the prosecutor requested.
“Hakeem,” he responded.
Shannon Schott, a Jacksonville lawyer not related to the case, says whereas it might sound uncommon for a dad or mum to testify in opposition to their very own baby, primarily based on the legislation, it’s not out of the realm of risk.
“In Florida, we don’t have any dad or mum/baby confidentiality,” Schott mentioned. “There’s spousal, there’s clergy, there’s lawyer, there’s physician, however there’s no dad or mum/baby.”
Robinson Sr., who was arrested Sept. 10, 2020, and accused of serving to Whitaker and one other man escape after the taking pictures, was requested why he selected to testify in opposition to his son and one other member of the family.
“I bought some well being points,” he mentioned. “I bought two 6-year-olds and an 8-year-old daughter.”
Robinson Sr. mentioned he needs to take his daughter to the daddy-daughter dance, however he retains “letting her down.”
“I simply discovered June 25 that my kidneys is failing quickly,” he mentioned.
He acknowledged that testifying within the case in opposition to his son and his nephew will make his life more durable each out and in of jail.
He mentioned cooperating within the case is the “hardest resolution I’ve needed to make in my life.”
A protection lawyer requested Robinson Sr. to make clear what he’s receiving in alternate for his testimony as a part of a plea deal. He mentioned he’ll now face a most of 20 years in jail as a substitute of a possible most of 60 years.
The lawyer for Hakeem Robinson painted Robinson Sr. as somebody who was taking a deal to avoid wasting himself.
Whereas it doesn’t essentially rely as making a take care of the state, Schott says testifying in instances like this will help in future courtroom hearings.
“If somebody testifies willingly in opposition to one other particular person, when that one who testified is sentenced, it may be favorable in a future sentencing listening to whenever you cooperate,” Schott defined.
Whitaker’s father was in courtroom final week and mentioned he needs folks to be held accountable, however he needs to see proof.
“We’re simply going to attend for the result and see the way it’s going to be. I’m going to maintain my head up and my chest out,” he mentioned.
Getaway driver testifies
The star witness for the prosecution, Dominique “Butta” Barner, took the stand Friday afternoon.
Barner, 31, was supplied a plea deal after admitting to driving the automobile on the day McCormick was killed. Barner additionally testified that Hakeem Robinson needed to kill McCormick over the diss track, which was performed for the jury in courtroom on Friday.
Barner mentioned he discovered McCormick’s deal with on the Duval County Clerk of Courts web site and later drove by his house together with Abdul Robinson Jr., Hakeem Robinson, and Whitaker.
Prosecutors requested why they needed to know the place McCormick lived.
“Principally, so we will, you understand, deal with up after that,” Barner mentioned. “Get all the pieces in movement, like set one thing up.”
“To perform what?” the prosecutor requested.
“Kill McCormick,” Barner responded.
Barner then testified that on the day McCormick was killed, he, Hakeem Robinson and Whitaker waited for hours exterior McCormick’s house after which adopted him to a buying plaza in a stolen Nissan Altima.
He testified intimately about what he mentioned occurred subsequent.
Barner mentioned he parked close to McCormick’s automobile and got here up with a plan for Hakeem Robinson to shoot McCormick when he bought again into his automobile to go away, so they may escape shortly. However Hakeem Robinson didn’t wait, Barner mentioned.
Proper when McCormick got here out of the staffing company, Hakeem Robinson jumped out of the automobile and began taking pictures at McCormick as he tried to run away, Barner testified.
“What did Hakeem Robinson do?” the prosecutor requested.
“Chased him,” Barner mentioned.
“After which did what?” the prosecutor requested.
“Killed him,” Barner mentioned.
Barner mentioned he didn’t truly see Hakeem Robinson kill McCormick as a result of they ran across the aspect of the constructing.
Barner testified that McCormick was killed precisely one yr after Addison’s homicide. Barner mentioned Abdul Robinson Jr. was additionally injured within the taking pictures that killed Addison.
Barner mentioned after the taking pictures, he sped off with Hakeem Robinson and Whitaker, however a police officer shortly noticed them, and a chase ensued.
Barner mentioned he finally crashed within the space of Townsend Boulevard, and all three jumped out of the automobile, leaving weapons behind, as evidenced in crime scene images.
Hakeem Robinson went a method, and Barner and Whitaker went one other manner, jumping fences and eventually ending up in a woman’s house, he said. After briefly holding the lady hostage, Barner testified that the 2 had been picked up by Abdul Robinson Sr., often known as “Blue,” and on the way in which to his home, they advised him what occurred.
Barner was arrested later that day and accused of the house invasion.
On cross-examination, protection attorneys questioned Barner’s credibility and keyed in on the truth that Barner lied to police when he was first introduced in for questioning and didn’t inform them concerning the taking pictures and denied taking something from the house when he was attempting to flee.
Protection attorneys additionally had Barner testify that he took a plea deal in two homicide instances and testified to keep away from life sentences, and now may very well be sentenced to twenty years.
Whitaker’s protection lawyer, Julia Schlax, mentioned Barner is a well known paid murderer who is thought to testify and minimize offers with the state.
‘I didn’t know something’
A lady who dated a cousin of Hakeem Robinson and Abdul Robinson Jr. testified on Friday that she drove to select up Hakeem Robinson at an house complicated in Arlington the day McCormick was murdered.
She advised the state she was woken up from her sleep by her boyfriend and located Adul Robinson Jr. additionally in her Arlington residence, which is a couple of mile away from the buying plaza the place McCormick was murdered.
She then mentioned she was requested to select up Hakeem Robinson from the house complicated on Arlington Expressway, which she says she did, then drove again to her residence with out talking with Hakeem Robinson, earlier than going again to mattress.
She mentioned she stopped courting her boyfriend shortly after this occurred.
The lady was then cross-examined by Whitaker’s lawyer, who emphasised the witness by no means spent any time with Whitaker, though she knew who he was.
Throughout cross-examination with Hakeem Robinson’s lawyer, the lawyer identified that the lady by no means went to the police after the homicide, and it was not till April of 2022 that the witness claimed she knew one thing concerning the case, after receiving a subpoena from the State Lawyer’s Workplace.
The lawyer additionally pressed the lady on what she knew concerning the occasions that unfolded on the day of the homicide.
Lawyer: “When do you know that there was a homicide? You needed to have recognized whenever you noticed the information later that day. Inside 24 hours, you knew that the homicide occurred, and it concerned your boyfriend, proper?
Lady: “I didn’t know for certain. I simply noticed the demise of Charles McCormick on the information.”
Lawyer: “On the strip mall proper round from your own home, proper, the one the place you declare you heard gunshots from your own home, proper?”
Lady: “I by no means mentioned I heard any gunshots.”
Lawyer: “Since you had been asleep all morning, proper, and may’t testify to something that occurred at your own home earlier than you awoke?”
Lady: “Appropriate.”
Lawyer: “However you picked up the shooter and also you helped him get away, proper?”
Lady: “I picked up Hakeem Robinson, that’s who I picked up.”
Lawyer: “They usually’re claiming he’s the shooter, proper?”
Lady: “Sure.”
Lawyer: “You picked him up and helped him get away and evade seize?”
Lady: “I suppose, if that’s what you need to say. I used to be simply choosing anyone up.”
Lawyer: “As a result of in the event you declare you didn’t know something, then you possibly can’t get charged with accent after the very fact, proper?”
Lady: “I didn’t know something.”
Witnesses describe day of taking pictures
A lady who labored on the staffing company on the Dames Pointe Plaza on Merrill Street, the place McCormick Jr. was shot, testified final week, describing the moments main as much as the taking pictures. McCormick had simply left the enterprise after receiving his job task and walked to his automobile, she mentioned.
“As he was leaving, there was a person approaching. As he proceeded to stroll off of the sidewalk, he acknowledged somebody coming in the direction of him. He seemed again and turned and began to take off working,” the witness mentioned.
Prosecutors then performed the frantic 911 name made by that witness, who described a shooter sporting a black masks and cranium cap working throughout the car parking zone. She additionally mentioned McCormick was mendacity on the bottom and never transferring.
Regardless of the second of chaos, the caller mentioned she caught a glimpse of the shooter.
“He has a masks on, he has a cranium cap, he’s working throughout the car parking zone,” she mentioned.
An off-duty JSO officer, one other state witness, testified that minutes later, he noticed a silver Nissan pace away from the scene.
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He adopted the automobile, later figuring out a person in all black getting out, presumably holding a rifle. However the protection mentioned neither witness may see the shooter’s face and questioned their descriptions.
One other girl who took the stand final Thursday described discovering two males standing in her Arlington residence. She mentioned they held her down and didn’t let her depart, then took garments and a cellphone from the house earlier than getting right into a Charger-style car.
She described the 2 males as “tattoo dude” and “squirrelly dude.” She mentioned the person with the tattoos had “1993″ tattooed on his arm.
She recognized Dominique Barner, who was born in 1993, however mentioned she by no means noticed the opposite man’s face. Prosecutors say that was Whitaker.
Technical testimony
On Monday, an FBI knowledgeable gave the jury a technical tutorial about how cellphones work with towers, how that data is recorded by cellphone corporations, and the way these data can be utilized by investigators to pinpoint the relative areas of cellphones. The knowledgeable couldn’t definitively put Hakeem Robinson’s telephone within the space of the taking pictures on that day.
He was adopted by a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Workplace latent fingerprint examiner, who testified {that a} print lifted from the slide of a gun discovered within the stolen Nissan matched Hakeem Robinson.
Throughout cross-examination, Robinson’s lawyer clarified with the fingerprint examiner that she couldn’t testify as to when Hakeem Robinson left the print on the gun.
An authorized forensic video examiner who assisted within the McCormick case additionally testified final week, explaining {that a} forensic video overview of a touch cam that recorded the homicide excluded Barner and Whitaker as potential candidates for the shooter however couldn’t exclude Hakeem Ronbinson.
Protection attorneys argued that Hakeem Robinson stands properly over 6 ft, whereas a number of witnesses estimated the gunman was a lot shorter.
Opening statements
Two juries have been seated — one for every defendant — and are listening to the case on the identical time.
Throughout opening statements final Wednesday, Assistant State Lawyer Joel Cooper argued that McCormick’s affiliations with native rap teams made him Robinson’s goal after he recorded the diss monitor.
Whitaker’s lawyer, Julie Schlax, argued in opposition to his involvement within the taking pictures.
“There shall be no query in any respect… Leroy Whitaker didn’t pull the set off. Leroy Whitaker had nothing to do with the demise of Charles McCormick. That’s what the proof will present,” Whitaker’s lawyer advised the courtroom.
Hakeem Robinson’s lawyer, Tara Kawass, turned her feedback to the jury, asking them to “ignore” the descriptions which have positioned Robinson because the shooter.
“Ignore the descriptions given by every person who noticed the shooter,” she mentioned to the jury. “Discredit them. Don’t imagine them.”
Kawass claimed that it was truly Barner, not Robinson, who deliberate and orchestrated the homicide.
“If you take heed to all of the credible, dependable proof on this case, it’s solely going to show to you one factor: Hakeem Robinson is harmless. Discover him not responsible,” she mentioned.
After the McCormick trial concludes, Hakeem Robinson will face a separate homicide trial for the 2019 taking pictures demise of 16-year-old Adrian “Lil Bibby” Gainer Jr.
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